Boat trailer



April 1969 H. F. SNODGRASS 3,438,524

BOAT TRAILER Filed Dec. 27, 1966 Sheet of 2 IN EN TOR. HAROLD F. Swaps/905s llf rne s April 5, 1969 H. F. SNODGRASS 3,438,524

BOAT TRAILER Filed Dec. 27, 1966 Sheet 2 of 2 g INVEWTOR.

Hana/.0 F. \S'Nooefinss rllfomags United States Patent 3,438,524 BOAT TRAILER Harold F. Snodgrass, 1125 Topeka St., Emporia, Kans. 66612 Filed Dec. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 604,922 Int. Cl. B66f 9/06; 1360p 1/52, 3/10 U.S. Cl. 214-505 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention This invention relates to boat trailers and more particularly relates to an improved boat trailer construction.

For a number of years, boat trailers were mainly used on infrequent occasions in order to transport boats from storage areas to points of use. Most boat owners utilizing trailers would normally store their boats in one location through the off seasonal months and then use a trailer to transport their boat to the area in which the boat was to be used at the beginning of the boating season. Boats would normally stay in this location until the end of the boating season when a boat trailer would then be used to transport the boat back to its storage area for the off seasonal months.

Boating has become more popular in recent years. The result has been that many boats are being trailed to and from the point of use each time they are used. If a boat is to be trailed over a substantial distance virtually every time it is to be used, it is extremely important that precautions be taken to protect the hull of the boat when it is being loaded, unloaded and trailed.

When a boat is in the water, the outer surfaces of its hull are not normally subjected to abrasive forces and localized areas of stress. However, a boat supported by a conventional trailer and moved longitudinally of the trailer during the loading and unloading operation has the outer surfaces of its hull subjected to abrasive action and individual stressed areas which support the entire weight of the hull. Heretofore, trailers have been provided with supporting rollers for supporting and cradling a boat hull during the loading and unloading operation and also during the movement of the boat from one location to another by means of a trailer.

The rollers are normally constructed of at least a semirigid material and are normally fixed in one position with respect to the trailer. That is, the boat moves over the rollers, but the rollers do not move along the length of the trailer with the boat. The contact between the rollers and the outer surfaces of the hull of the boat comprises a thin line extending in a direction which parallels the axis of rotation of the rollers and a length equal to the width of the roller being engaged by the boat hull.

With the size of boats frequently trailed increasing each year, rollers provided as a means for supporting a boat during trailing and as a means for facilitating the loading and unloading of the boat onto and from the trailer have proven to be undesirable. The thin line constresses upon the hull which may ultimately damage it.

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As an alternative method of supporting the boat on a trailer during the trailing operation, pad assemblies having relatively large bearing surfaces were considered. This method was highly desirable during the trailing operations, inasmuch as the large load area of the pads distributed the portion of the weight of the boat supported by each pad over a large area. However, the method proved unsatisfactory because the boats did not readily slide onto and from the trailer when supported by the relatively large pad assemblies.

In view of the foregoing problems, there were attempts to provide a boat trailer which would support a boat during the trailing operations by means of pad assemblies having large bearing areas and by means of roller assemblies during the loading and unloading operations. While trailers of this type have been provided with some success, they have been complicated and have required considerable time and effort on the part of the boat owner and, therefore, have not been widely accepted. Most of the prior art assemblies which are provided with roller assemblies for loading and unloading the boat as well as pad assemblies for supporting a boat during a trailing operation have a tiltable frame section with roller support means thereon.

In U.S. Patent No. 3,082,892, hereinafter referred to as the Cox patent, one such boat trailer having a tiltable frame section with roller support as well as pad assemblies is disclosed. When a tiltable section is tilted to the loading and unloading positions, the roller supports are elevated above the pad assemblies. Not only is it necessary to tilt the tiltable frame section in order to transfer the load of the boat from the pad assembly to the roller support means and vice versa, but the hull is still subjected to the stress of being transferred to and from and moved over rollers. Thus the Cox patent does not overcome the problem of relieving stress on the hull of the boat.

A trailer having a complicated, telescoping frame with a tiltable section is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,140,003. While this structure purports to reduce the manual labor, it does not solve the problems of stress and friction on the boat hull. Still another prior art trailer having a tiltable section is provided in U.S. Patent No. 3,097,755. Once again, the hull of the boat is subjeced to stresses and possible damage from the rollers.

The above described trailers generally employ a conventional system of stationary rollers. The boat rides across the rollers during the loading and unloading and, consequently, is subjected to a great deal of friction, stresses, bumping and the like.

A further problem with conventional boat trailers has been that there is no good way to line up an approaching boat so that it will be centered and ride up onto the trailer without having to be manually centered. While some of the prior art boat trailers have pulleys for cranking the boat onto the trailer from the water, there are no satisfactory means for preventing the boat from sliding around on the rollers and to maintain the boat in a centrally located longitudinal position with respect to the trailer, particularly in loading the boat onto the trailer from the water.

Summary 0 the invention The boat trailer of the present invention includes a platform which is seated on and afiixed to a wheel supported frame. A substantially U-shaped track is disposed longitudinally about the platform and is centrally located thereon. The open end of the track faces the end of the trailer opposite the loading end. A series of spaced dollies having a plurality of steel wheels affixed to one surface thereof are disposed along the track and ride therein. Rubber keel supports are afiixed to the opposite sunface of the dollies.

A last dolly is coupled to a cable which is lengthened or shortened by an auxiliary winch. The first and second dollies are joined by an adjustable metal rod. A plurality of dollies disposed between the second and last dollies are joined by chains. When the front of the keel engages the second dolly, and a winch is operated, the pressure of the boat moves the dolly along the track and the rest of the dollies successively engage the keel and ride along the track. Alternatively, the boat can be driven onto the trailer and powered by the boat motor. A rope cradle engages a bow hook on the prow of the boat and serves as guide means to center and maintain the boat in a longitudinally central position while the boat is being driven onto the trailer. In either event, there is considerably less wear on the bottom of the boat than when trailers are equipped with the prior art roller assemblies.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved boat trailer.

A further object is to provide a boat trailer having individually mounted keel supports which ride in a track, thereby moving longitudinally with the keel of the boat and preventing damage thereto.

A still further object is to provide a boat trailer having means for centering a boat as it approaches the boat trailer and maintaining the boat along a central longitudinal axis of the trailer.

Further objects will become apparent as the description proceeds.

Brief description of the drawings The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a boat trailer in accord with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along lines 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic longitudinal section of the trailer with a boat initially contacting said trailer.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a boat approaching the trailer.

Description of preferred embodiment Referring more particularly to the drawings, one embodiment of a boat trailer in accord with the present invention is shown generally at 10. The trailer includes a wheel based frame shown generally at 11. The generally rectangular frame is tapered at its forward end and provided with a draft tongue 12. The forward end of the draft tongue may be provided with any suitable ball hitch coupling element (not shown) for engagement with a complementary hitch element (not shown) carried by the rear of the vehicle. The rear end of the frame has a V-shaped recess 13 for guiding and initially centering a boat 100 onto the trailer as it approaches the trailer from the water. A solid platform 14 provides a walkway for the owner of the boat, and supports a boat supporting structure described hereinbelow.

A boat bumper 15 is mounted on either side of the rear portion of the frame. Adjustable boat guides shown generally at 16 are mounted at the end of either side of the frame. Each boat guide has a roller 17 mounted on an arm 18. The arm is pivotally coupled to mounting rod 19 at junction 20. The mounting junction provides complete mobility. Thus the arm may be adjusted so that the angle from the roller to the frame coincides with the angle of the side of the boat. The boat guide is adjusted so that the entire length of the rubber roller contacts the boat as the boat passes over the rear portion of the trailer.

An elongated substantially U-shaped track 21 is disposed about platform 14. The track is a C-shaped cross member with the open channel portion 25 facing outwardly. A plurality of dollies shown generally at 22 ride the track 21 formed by the C-shaped cross member. Each dolly is mounted on four steel ball bearing wheels 23. The wheels are spaced to span the width of the track and ride along therein. Each dolly has an upstanding arm 24 which extends through the open portion of the track. A rubber keel support 26 is mounted on the top of the dolly. The keel support has a substantially V-shaped base 28 and outwardly inclined side walls 28A which substantially conforms to the keel of the boat. The dollies are cooperatively coupled by chains 29 so that as each dolly engages the boat keel and moves along the track, successive dollies are moved in the same direction.

The first dolly shown generally at 30 carries an arm 31 and spring guide members 32. The spring guide members which are slender rods are retained in sleeves 33. The sleeves in turn are retained by a yoke 34 which is rotatably mounted to the rod 31. Rod 31 is rotatable within the bore that extends through dolly 30 and is secured therein by wing bolt 35. A rope adapted to engage a bow hook 36 on the bow of a boat is threaded through the loops 37 of the spring members 32. The rope 38 extends downwardly on either side and is fastened on either side to a rod 39 which is carried by a second dolly unit shown generally at 40. There is complete adjustment of the rope point at point 37 to provide adjustment for various bow configurations and bow mount locations.

Dolly 40 has a substantially V-shaped upper surface 41 with rollers 42 mounted thereon to reduce the coefiicient of friction when the boat initially contacts the trailer. Dollies 30 and 40 are joined by an adjustable metal rod 45.

The structure of the first two dollies and the rope form a boat cradle. As the boat approaches the boat trailer from the water, as shown in FIG. 3, the rope seats over the notch behind the bow hook and the entire boat cradle conforms to the bow of the boat, thereby centering the boat.

After the boat engages the boat cradle, the pressure of the boat moves the dollies and the boat first engages dolly 40. The rollers substantially lower the resistance when the boat initially hits the trailer thereby reducing the friction normally existing between the boat and the trailer. The train of dollies is pushed by the rope rather than the friction of the boat keel itself. The dolly train remains stationary until the rope cradle hooks onto the bow mount. As the rope is drawn taut by the forward motion of the boat, the entire dolly train starts to move toward the forward end of the trailer.

The boat can be loaded by hooking the end of the line onto the top winch 50 and cranking the handle '51 to pull the boat into position, or the boat can be driven directly from the water onto the trailer and the successive dollies engaging the keel will guide the boat along the track. The boat is initially centered and guided by the rope cradle. Thus the boat can easily be driven onto the trailer by virtue of the aligning rope cradle.

The end dolly is coupled to a cable 62 as shown in FIG. 4. The cable runs up to an auxiliary winch 61. The aipriliary winch is used to crank the boat into the water. The boat trailer is merely backed up to the water and the winch turned to let the boat into the water. In FIG. 4, the winch mounting arm 63 and a portion of the mounting tongue are partially broken away to show the detail of the winch and the cooperating pulley 64.

FIG. 5 shows the position of the boat as it approaches the boat trailer from the water. It should be noted that the dolly 40 is seated at the end of the trailer and that the trailer will first engage this dolly as it enters onto the trailer. The dotted lines indicate the approximate position of the boat as shown in FIG. 4 when it has engaged the rope cradle. Stop means 60 engage the rod of dolly 40 so that the first and second dollies are retained on the top of the track at all times.

The coefiicient of friction is substantially less on the boat keel with the instant arrangement than is found in conventional boat trailers. The dolly wheels, equipped with steel ball bearings and riding in the steel track greatly reduces the friction. Considerably less power is required to winch the boat up onto the trailer or to drive the boat onto the trailer since the boat supporting members ride along with the keel of the boat.

Thus, the major disadvantages of the prior art boat trailers are overcome by the boat trailer of the present invention.

While the invention has been disclosed and described in some detail in the drawings and foregoing description, they are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, as other modifications may readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and within the broad scope of the invention, reference being made to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a boat trailer including a wheel based frame means, a draft tongue coupled to one end of said frame and extending outwardly therefrom, means carried by said draft tongue for removably coupling said trailer to a vehicle, the improvement being means for loading, unloading and supporting said boat, said means comprising:

(a) a track means disposed along a longitudinal central axis of said trailer;

(b) a first boat supporting means disposed in said track, said boat supporting means being movable along the length of said track;

(c) rope cradle means including a dolly disposed in said track and adapted to move along the length of said track, said dolly having an arm portion extending upwardly from said track, said arm portion having a bore through its horizontal axis, a rod rotatably received through said bore, said rod extending outwardly from each side of said upwardly extending arm, a yoke rotatably mounted at each end of said rod, a sleeve retained by each yoke, a resilient guide member being received in each sleeve and extending upwardly and outwardly inclined therefrom, each of said guide members carrying means at their distal ends for threadably receiving a rope therethrough, said first boat supporting means having an arm portion extending upwardly from said track, said arm portion having a bore through its horizontal axis, a rod received through said bore, said rod carrying means at each end thereof for securing a rope thereto, a rope being secured to one end of said rod, said rope extending vertically upwards and through said rope receiving means of one of said guide members, said rope further extending horizontally to said other guide member, through said rope receiving means of said other guide member, and downwardly, the free end of said rope being secured to the other end of said rod, said guide members being adjustable to compensate for the different widths of various boats, a segment of said horizontal portion of said rope engaging a bow hook on a boat, said cradle conforming to the boat bow as a boat approaches said trailer from the water, thereby centering said boat along the central longitudinal axis of said trailer and preventing said boat from sliding around on the trailer during load- (d) means for coupling said first boat supporting means and said boat centering means; and

(e) means for unloading said boat from said track into the water and for loading said boat from the water onto said track.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein a second boat supporting means is disposed in said track, said combination further including means for coupling said first boat supporting means and said second boat supporting means so that as a boat engages said first boat supporting means, and said first boat supporting means is moved forward toward the end of said trailer carrying said draft tongue, said second boat supporting means is drawn forwardly along said track thereby engaging a second portion of the keel of a boat; said second boat supporting means being coupled to a winch means for moving said means towards the end of said trailer facing the water for unloading said boat into the water.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said track is a substantially U-shaped cross-member having one arm of said track coupled to the upper surface of said frame, the closed end of said track on the end of the trailer frame facing the water during loading and unloading and having the other arm coupled to the lower surface of said frame thereby substantially encompassing the longitudinal central axis of said frame.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said first boat supporting means additionally comprises a dolly, said dolly being mounted on a first pair of steel ball bearing wheels, said wheels being spaced to span the width of said track and to ride along said track; said dolly having an upstanding arm extending through the open channel of said C-shaped cross member, the lower surface of a substantially V-shaped mounting plate being coupled to said arm above said track, a plurality of vertical rollers being mounted on the upper surface of said mounting plate to reduce the coefficient of friction when said boat engages said first boat supporting means; stop means cooperatively associated with the upper arm of said track adjacent said end facing the water for engaging said rod means of said first boat supporting means thereby preventing said first boat supporting means from travelling around said closed end of said track and to the lower surface of said frame when said boat is lowered into the water.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said second boat supporting means additionally comprises a dolly, said dolly being mounted on a first pair of steel ball bearing wheels, said wheels being spaced to span the width of said track and to ride along said track, said dolly having an upstanding arm extending through the open channel of said C-shaped cross member, a mounting plate coupled to said arm above said track, a resilient keel support member mounted on the upper surface of said mounting plate, said keel support member adapted to substantially conform to the keel of a boat when said boat engages said keel support member.

6. The combination of claim 5 additionally comprising a train of additional boat supporting means disposed along said track at spaced intervals behind said second boat supporting means, each of said additional boat supporting means being substantially identical to said sec- 0nd boat supporting means, means for coupling each of said means to the adjacent means so that when a boat engages said first boat supporting means and drives said means forwardly along said track each of said means successively moves forwardly around said track, engages a portion of the boat keel and moves along therewith, thereby eliminating the friction on the boat keel existing when a boat is loaded over conventional rollers which remain stationary with respect to said boat, said boat passing over said rollers, rather than said rollers moving along the length of the trailer with said boat.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein the end boat supporting means is coupled to a winch cable, a winch being cooperatively associated with said draft tongue and serving to move said dolly train toward the water and underneath said frame thereby lowering said boat into the water.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said trailer additionally comprises an auxiliary winch, said winch being mounted above said first winch, said auxiliary winch 8 having a cable associated therewith which is adapted to References Cited be secured to the bow hook of a boat, thereby enabling UNITED STATES PATENTS said boat to be cranked out of the water or driven out of the water and onto said trailer; the rear end of said 3$ trailer being substantially V-shaped to further center said 5 41 3/1964 H mm et boat as it approaches said trailer; said frame additional- 3199695 8/1965 scgfield 214 506 1y comprising adjustable guide arms affixed to either side of said frame adjacent the rear thereof, a roller carried AL MAKAY, primary Examiner by a top end of each of said guide arms, said guide arms being adjustable so that only said rollers contact the 10 sides of said boat. 214--83.24 

